Measure of a Man
by JustLikeaMcCord
Summary: One-shot. My altered ending for "Left of the Boom." I envisioned a few more moments for Henry with the kids, especially Jason. Thank you for reading. Reviews are so appreciated.


Pandemonium.  
Sirens.  
 _Screams._

Henry kept a hand on Allison's back and held onto Jason as he urged them forward to keep them moving.  
"Dr. McCord, I need everyone in the car!" an agent commanded, opening the back door on the driver's side.  
"We have to _call_ Mom!" Stevie shrieked, her hand against his shoulder and panic filling her voice. Henry pressed Jason into the car, first.  
"We've gotta get you home and we _will,"_ he told her. _  
"Dad!"_ he pulled Stevie toward the car and she scrambled in after her brother.  
"No, no, _wait_!" Allison cried out.  
"We will. Come on, everything's gonna be okay." He pushed Allison into the seat beside Stevie. "I'll see you at home!"  
"Wait!" Allison protested again, terror evident in her dark eyes.  
 _For a split instant, he wanted nothing more than to be in the car with them. To hold his children and to soothe them..._  
"Everything's gonna be okay," he tried to reassure them before he closed the door against their frightened faces. "Go, _**go**_!" he cried, as the door snapped shut and the car's engine revved.

"He's going back there!" Jason shouted, realizing what was happening.  
"Jason!" One of the agents said his name.  
He twisted around desperately in the seat and Stevie reached out to grab him as he opened the door before the car could gain any momentum.

 _"Jas!"  
"Jason! Stop!"  
_  
His sister's screams combined together and rang in his ears, as his feet hit the blacktop and he started running. Pushing people out of the way, he plunged through the crowd, his eyes never leaving Henry.  
 _"Dad!"_ he shouted after his retreating figure. He watched Henry turn around and felt unease course through him; he'd never seen his father's face so full of pure dread.  
" _Jason_!" Henry yelled, " _No!"_ His father started back toward him as Jason ran to meet him.  
He heard his sister's voices close behind...

 _"Jas, don't! Dad!"_  
 _"Wait, Jas!_ "

"I'm coming with you!" Jason gasped out, when he reached Henry.  
 _"No, you're not,"_ Henry cried, grabbing his arm and steering him back. "Everything's gonna be okay. I need you to go home-"  
"But _you're_ going back there!" Jason shouted, accusingly, pulling his arm from his father's grasp.

 _He had to make Dad understand..._  
"I have to see if I can help some-" _  
Dad couldn't go back there by himself..._  
"I'll help too, Dad!" he said, in a rush.

"Jason," Henry growled his name in a dangerous voice and he knew his father was losing his patience, but Jason wasn't going to give in without a fight.  
"I don't want you to go by yourself-"  
"Girls, don't move!" Henry yelled, interrupting Jason and he turned to see his sisters a few yards from them, agents running up behind them before-  
 _  
"No!"_  
 _"Jas!"_  
 _"Dad!"  
"Daddy! Please!"_  
 _"Wait!"_

The members of the detail grabbed the girls and Jason watched as his sisters fought before they were forced back into the car. " _No! Dad! Wait!_ " Stevie cried, trying to move out of their grasp. Allison was doubled over, trying to make herself harder to hold, _"Jas! Daddy! Please!"_ she sobbed out, as she was pushed back into the car.

Henry brushed his hand over his face. Pain was evident there before he took Jason's shoulders, "Jas, I need you to go. I need you to-"  
"That's not fair!" he shouted, feeling child-like as he said it but he wasn't finished fighting for his dad. "I wanna go with you!"

He met his father's dark anxiety-filled gaze. Jason would never understand the dichotomy contained in the moment but the louder and more upset Jason grew, the calmer and more in control Henry seemed to become. For all of the uncertainty surrounding the moments to come, Henry was just _Dad_ now. _This_ was the role he knew best.

"You know what you can do for me?" Henry inquired, quickly. "Take care of your sisters."  
"Who's gonna take care of _you?"_ Jason asked, angrily, his voice almost cracking with emotion.  
"Jason, you gotta believe me. I'm gonna be okay. I need you to take care of them and Mom."  
"Dad, I can't leave you!" Jason cried out, his tears finally falling.  
"You won't. I'll be right behind you. Go with the girls now and everything will be all right."

Jason brushed his tears away bitterly and nodded as Henry sent him back toward the car.  
 _"Take care of them, Jas."_  
Jason felt Henry press something into his hand before the car door opened and he was pulled inside. _"It's okay,"_ as the door closed. He felt Stevie and Allison pull him close, but he couldn't look at them. He couldn't take his eyes off the man running back toward the building that everyone else was running away from. When he couldn't see Henry any longer for the tears blurring his vision and the car turning a corner, he unfurled his clenched fist. He found his father's Saint Christopher medal pressed against his palm. _"The Patron Saint of Travelers and Children"  
_ Jason glanced back toward the direction of the building. His father's act brought a quote he'd once read to his mind. He wasn't sure he remembered it correctly but he knew that Henry would. As he held the medal tightly in his hand, he tried to believe that he'd be able to ask his father about it later on.

 _"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."  
\- Martin Luther King, Jr._


End file.
